A dog in Germany has given birth to 17 puppies, leaving the owner thrilled but fatigued after having to bottle-feed them for several weeks – the puppies’ mother would have never been able to keep up with the demand.

Owner Ramona Wegemann said yesterday that she barely slept for more than a couple of minutes without interruption during about four weeks, in an “exhausting” struggle to make sure all of the purebred Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies would survive. She said when she was “finished feeding the last puppy, the first was hungry again.”

Wegemann’s dog, Etana, gave birth to eight female puppies and nine male puppies on September 28 in Eberschenhof, which is near Berlin.

At least five times a day, Wegemann gave the dogs a bottle with special milk to accommodate their hunger, since the mother wouldn’t have been able to provide enough food for all 17 of them.  And when the puppies weren’t hungry, she said, they wanted to be entertained.

Wegemann said when dogs give birth to so many puppies, several of them die within the first week, “but all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful,” she said.

This is the second time Etana has given birth. She gave birth to eight puppies her first time around, not uncommon for the dog’s breed.

Wegemann says that she hopes to get about $1,315 per dog -- $1,050 per puppy would only cover the expenses for the veterinary work, vaccinations, food, and paperwork. She also said they would only give the puppies to families with children, not breeders. Four of the puppies have been sold, and two more are already paid for and will leave the pack soon.

I don’t know about you guys, but I think this woman should spay her dog – regardless of your opinion on purebred dogs, adoption, shelters, and everything else dog-related, this dog's already given birth to 25 puppies! Give her a break!